The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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  • Craig Hinkle (left), Amber Statz and Rachel Johnston (not shown) will staff The Reach, a new homeless outreach center by Lutheran Social Service. The center will be a continuation of LSS’s work with homeless youth, but they hope a more visible location will allow them to reach more youth. John Cross

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February 22, 2011

Reaching out to young people with nowhere else to go

By Robb Murray Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — The Reach, a new drop-in center for homeless youth, is set to open downtown Thursday.

It is an effort more than a year in the making. Lutheran Social Service has sought financial help through grants and held fundraisers to make the center a reality. And this week the nonprofit agency will be able to direct the youth they’ve already been working with in the basement of Bethlehem Lutheran Church for years to its new center across the alley.

The new center is on South Front Street, across the street from the Mankato Department of Public Safety, in an office building occupied by several tenants, including Southern Minnesota Independent Living Enterprises and Services.

Amber Statz, LSS’s senior youth worker, and mental health practitioners Craig Hinkle and Rachel Johnston will staff the center. The idea was to provide a visible location where homeless youth can come and get access to the services homeless adults get via traditional homeless outreach organizations.

The Reach is not a homeless shelter. But it will be a gathering place, a place to talk to people who can help them address their problems, and a place to go when they have nowhere to go — or nowhere to bathe.

“This was the big selling point,” Hinkle says, referring to The Reach’s shower room.

Young people in need can sign up to use the shower, something some of them may not have much access to if they’re homeless or live a couch-hopping existence.

The true extent of youth homelessness is hard to pin down. Many homeless youth are so-called “couch hoppers” and sleep wherever they’re allowed. And many don’t identify themselves as homeless.

But statewide data show that about 54 percent of Minnesota’s homeless youth live outside the Twin Cities area.

Statz said they’ve sort of modeled what they’re doing on successful drop-in centers around the state. They’ve planned some programming — such as movie nights, game nights, resume workshops and art projects — but they’re also hoping to let clients have a significant say in what services are offered.

For now, though, they’re just happy to finally have a location they’re mostly happy with. A few things need to be fixed up, and the staff will use the already-in-place drafting tables left behind by a previous tenant, a roofing company that came to town after the summer storms.

They’re looking for furniture donations as well as donations of items that can be given to future clients. Luckily, they got a head start through a donation from a church in Blooming Prairie, which put together care packages full of soap, shampoo, wash cloths, toothpaste, calendars and other hygiene and personal care items.

They also hope to provide a limited number of meals, perhaps one per day. And they’ll have a media room with books, computers donated by HickoryTech and art supplies. As always, they can provide young people with clothing vouchers and three sessions with a licensed therapist.

Statz said she’s open to all young people, whether homeless or not, making use of the center. She’s already been working with area high school students who wish to volunteer and raise money for it, including one girl who raised $800 in one day for them.

Statz and Hinkle say they’re expecting things to start slow. They anticipate an annual budget of roughly $20,000 to run the center with salary costs being covered by LSS, and utility costs included in their rent.

Its hours will be 2:30-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 2:30-5 p.m. Fridays. The center will be closed on weekends.

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